Cistern.



0. M.I ALEXANDER.

GISTBRN. MPL10-M1011 FILED 11113.31, 1909.

Patented Sept. 21, 1909. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

@Xx tn wow 0. M. ALEXANDER.

CISTERN.

APPLIGATIQN FILED MAR. a1, 1909.

934,647, Patented sept.21,1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

OLIN M. ALEXANDER, 0F ANNISTON, ALABAMA.

CISTERN.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1909.

Application filed March 31, 1909. Serial No. 486,947.

To all who/miti may concern:

Beit known that I, OLIN M. Anamnese, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anniston, inthe county o of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Cistern, of which the following-s a specilication.

It is the object bf the ,present invention to provide a novel cistern construction errang to receive water from the' eaves troughs of a house, filter the Water, and discharge it under pressure at any contenient and desired point. l

It is a further object of the invention to so construct the cistern that it will not ,be required to o crate the air compressing device employe in connection therewith, continuously while water is being drawn from the spigots in the house, the water reservoir oft the cistern or as it may be termed,

' the pressure tank, having airjorced thereinto air `compressor,

under pressure and being so valved as to prevent escape of the water and air from the tank except .by way of the said spigots.

' With the above and other objects in view, the inventionv consists in the construction and arrangement of parts shown in the acoompanyingdrawings in which drawings,

Figure 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of a cistern constructed in accordance with the present invention showing the arrangement of the 'same with res ct tov an air compressing means, and a discharge or drawoff spigot. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View through the cisternshown in Fig. 1 cf the drawings on the line 2-2vof the said Fig. 1, and,fF1g. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a slight modification in the structure oi the cistcrn. Fig. 4 is a of mounting the pump upon the cistern'.

lt is to be understood of course that the cistern and its related chambers and parts may be made of any suitable material `such as concrete, cement, or builtl up of brick or stone 'and that any style of faucet or spigot. and pump may be employed in connection with the cistern, in the relation tobe hereinafter stated, without departing from the invention, all of these several devices being of the ordinary form and of any desired make. l 1

In thedrawings, the cistern body is indif cated by the numeral 5, referring of eounse to Figs. 1 and 2' of the drawings specifically,

Calhoun and State detail view showing the'manner` and this body is formador has built. at its` upper portion a recelving chamber 6 into which the .rain water is to be discharged through the medium of a' pipe 7 leading into th Saad receiving chamber through the top thereof, this top being indicated by the numeral 8, and being removable whereby accessmay 'be had to the interior of the said receiving chamber. The top 8 carries or Supports an ordinary pump -9 the pipe of which is indicatedhy the numeral 10 and is buiit into .the cistern body 5 at one side thereof and extends downwardly thereinto, it being open at its lower end and serving to inclose the usual water-conducting pipe 11 which leads directly to the -pum conducting pipe being provid at its lower end with the usual valve chamber 12 it being understood lthat by operating the pump 49, water may `be pumped from the body, of the cistern.

The cistern body 5 and the receiving cham ber 6 4are separated by a filter wall 13 which is preferably built up of bricks or other porous blocks or sections thro h which the water, discharged into the said receiving chamber, filters and preferably there is disposed against the inner face of this filter wall or namely that face which is presented inwardly of the receiving chamber 6, a layer of cotton lint or asbestos or the like, indicated by the numeral 14, which layer is held in place against the said filter wall by means of a wire net or screen frame 15 disposed `obliquelyv with respect to the wall and 'bearing at its upper edge against the layer 14: and beneath a ange or edge 16 formed'or provided thereon, the lower edge of the said screen :frame 15 seating V1n one of ,a plurality of grooves 17 formed transversely across the Hoor of the said receiving-chamber, it being the lower edge of the screen frame. 15 pro,- vides for ad]ustment of the several devices to suit varying thicknesses of layers 14.' It will be understood of course that all of the water which is discharged into the receiving chamber 6 passes through this filterl medium consisting of the lterlwall 18 and the layer 14. of cotton lint or `asbestos and that co1- lection of leaves, sediment of all nature, and sticks .and the like at the bottom of the receiving chamber and against the layer 14 of 4the ilsteni medium, will be obviated lby reasonof t provision of the screen frame .understood that this manner.. of supporting y 15, this frame being inclined downwardly as I tank A21, the said tank being empty, the valve heretofore stated so that leaves and other similar foreign mattei' will not be permitted to collect directly against the filtering medium but will fall or slide down to the bottom of the receiving chamberV at the opposite side thereof thereby leaving the filtering medium clear. ,It will further be understood that by removing the screen` frame 15, the layer 14 of the lterinv medium may be readily removed and replaced and also that the wall 13 may be removed when it is desired to gain admittance to the interior of the cistern body 5. As clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the water in the body 5 must neces'- sarily pass through a filtering medium 18 before it can be drawn from the cistern body through the medium of the pump 9 or a faucet which is to be presently described and that reality the lower end ofthe pump pipe 10 projects or extends into a filter cham ber 19 which is formed within the cistern body 5 at the bottom thereof and in the upper wall of which the -filtering medium 18 just mentioned is seated; This filtering medium is in the nature of a completely closed wire frame member filled with cotton, asbestos, or other suitable filtering material and is-seated in an o ening .20 formed in he said upper wall o the said filter cham- Therel is also built or formed onto the cistern body 5I at one side thereof and here shown' as thatside in which the lter chamber 19 is located, a reservoir or pressure tank 21 which has communication with the filter chamber throu h an opening22 formed in the wall lying etween the said filter cham ber and the said pressure tank, there being fitted this o enmg a valve seat 23 having a 'ledge 24 projecting into the pressure tank and a ball valve 25 seated upon the ledge and adapted normally to close the .opening formed through the seat. The function of this valve will presently be fully described.

Leading into the pressure tank through the upper end thereof is a compressed air conducting pipe 26, .this pipe leadin from a suitable air pump or com ressor 2 which.

as heretofore stated, may e of any conventional/design, it bein em lo ed in comt g l y pressing air andforcing' t e same under pressure into the said pressure tank 21. A pipe 28 leads from the pressure tank 21, at a point adjacent the lower end thereof, through the top .of the said tank and to a faucet or spigot 29 which may be located at any desired point and may be du licated at several points in the length of t epipe if desired.

From the foregoin description of the in'- vention 1t will be un erstood that when the aircomp'ressor or pump 27- is .operated toI force air under pressure into the pressure 25 will remain closed as long as there is pressure in the tank and after a certain degree of pressure has been reached, a valve 30 interposed in the pipe 26 at a point adjacent 70 the point of connectionfthe pipe with the compressorj27, is opened'whereby to permit of escape of air from the'tank 21 to the atmosphere and such escape of the airwill causeva sudden inrush of water yfrom the filter chamber 19, the valve 25 beingforced from its seat by this inrush of Water into Vthe pressure tank 21. Afterl the tank 2l has become nearly filled with water, the valve 30 is closed and the compressor 27 is again op- 80 erated to force air under pressure lnto the pressure tank and this operation is continued until quite a pressure is secured after which the valve 30,- which is preferably a 3-way-valve,`is moved to position-to not only g5 prevent escape o f the air from the pressure tank to the atmosphere but also its escape to atmosphere through the air 'compressor 27. After the valve has been closed in this manner, the faucet 29 orany one of the several 9o faucets which may be provided in the lengm' of the pipe 28, may be opened 'to permit of out-flow of the water therethrough, such outflow continuing until the pr 'sure in the pressure tank 21 lbecomes norma whereupon 95 the flow will stop and the aircompressor 27. will again be operated in the manner above stated. It will be understood rhowever that ycontinuous operation of the air 4compressor 4thereof the water conducting pipe l1\ef the 110 pump passes, this bushing serving to prevent leaves, etc., from falling down through the pump pipe and contaminating the water inthe filter chamber 19.y

In the form of cistern shown in Fig. 3 115 of the drawings, the filter chamber 19, receiving chamber 6, and purnjg'iy 9 are omitted and the pressure tank, in this figure indicated by the reference numeral 21al is arranged 'within the cistern, body 5 on the bot- 120 tom thereof but separate from the said body so that it may be removed from the cistern when repairs are needed,-it having connec. tion with Y the Walter and air conducting pipes 28A and 26a respectively by means of 125 suitable'connectingunons 32 which permi of disconnection of thesaid pressure tank from these pipes, .,the unions. being interl posed in the pipes at points within the cistern-body 5. Except for the feature above 130 4the body, a vvalve establishing communica.

tion between said tank and body andv arranged to close uponl the establishment of pressure in the tank, a water-conducting pipe leading from the tank, a local air-compressor, a non-venting pipe independent of and at all times out of communication with the water-conducting pipe and establishing direct communication between said local air compressor and the tank, vand a draw-off faucet interposed in't-he water-conductingl pipe, said faucet affording means for venting said pressure tank.

2.` Iii a cistern, a body, a pressure tankn the body, a filter chamber, the said pressure tank having communication with the body through the filter chamber, a Water discharge pipe leading from the pressure tank, a valve establishing communication between the tank and c-stern body and arranged to close upon the establishment of pressure in the tank, and means for admitting-air under pressure into the tank.'

3. In a cistern, a body, a pressure tank in the body, a filterV chamber in the body, the said tank being in communication with the body through the filter chamber, a receiving chamber within the bodyl and arranged to discharge thereinto, a water discharge pipe leading from the tank, a valve establishing -communication between the tank and filter chambenpthe said valve being arranged to close upon the establishment of ressure in the tank, and means for admittlng air under pressure into the tank.

4. In a cistern, a cistern body, a receiving V chamber within the body, a filter wall between the receiving chamber and the in- 'terior of the cistern body, a layer of filter material disposed against the said wall, and an inclined screen supporting the said layer in position against the said wall and resting at its lower edge upon the bottom of the receiving chamber.

5. In a cistern, a cistern body,'a receiving chamber Within the body, a filter wall bei tween the receiving chamber and the interior of the cistern body,.and an inclined Xscreen disposed at its upper edge against the wallvand at its lower edge against 'the bottom 'of the receiving' chamber whereb to prevent collection of matter against the lter wall at the bottom thereof.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own,'I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

A. .,B. SAWYER, l B. F. PRESLEY. 

